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0724 The Request
🕑 Added 2025-05-23 10:26:38 +0000 UTC"What is it you wish to request, Hayne?" Bryan's voice cut through the gentle rustling of leaves.
His gaze was fixed upon the Vogel family's house-elf, and despite the seriousness of the situation, his tone was calm almost casual.
"Hayne knows that Young Master Adam and Miss Jasna have likely violated the most serious wizarding law—" Hayne faced Bryan and bowed deeply, his breathing was slightly irregular, and his pleading voice trembled with emotion.
"Hayne understands they have committed serious crimes, but please—just—just for the sake of the old master who has lost so much over the years, could you perhaps allow them to return home and see him one final time before sending them to prison?" Hayne's voice cracked with emotion, and the words were tumbling out of his mouth in a rush of desperate pleading.
"You are very clever, Hayne, and very loyal," Bryan responded, his eyebrows rising in genuine surprise.
Bryan had entered this conversation with certain expectations. He had even anticipated tearful pleas for mercy, emotional appeals to compassion, or perhaps even attempts to justify those inexcusable actions, but that was all impossible.
Being sent to prison was indeed the best possible outcome that Adam and Jasna could realistically hope for at this point. If they dared to resist arrest or fight back, Bryan might very well kill them on the spot.
Even setting aside Hermione's matter, the other crimes they had committed during their years of extremist activity made such an outcome inevitable.
But Hayne had not made the futile request for complete forgiveness that Bryan would have firmly directly denied.
The house-elf seemed to have pondered over Bryan's earlier conversation with Anton Vogel, had processed the consequences of what he had heard about Jasna's involvement in various criminal activities, and reached the logical conclusion that they were beyond complete redemption.
Understanding this harsh reality, Hayne had instead made this plea around the one thing that might still be possible—preserving their lives long enough for a final family reunion.
The silence that followed stretched on far longer than either Kingsley or Louise had anticipated. Both shifted restlessly in the background, their eyes darting between Bryan's thoughtful expression and the house-elf's trembling body.
A gentle breeze swept across the wilderness surrounding the Vogel estate, causing the golden wheat fields in the distance to rise and fall like ocean waves.
Bryan's thoughts wandered far from this conversation, delving into memories and connections that highlighted a much larger picture.
Anton Vogel's face and his reputation meant absolutely nothing to him. What he was considering was much deeper.
Bryan had originally believed that "Jasna Rosier" was nothing more than a false name, and that Vogel was the true surname of the woman he had seen in the goblin's memory.
Unexpectedly, this assumption was wrong—the truth was quite the opposite.
Hayne had just told him that Jasna was a genuine descendant of the Rosier family, one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight pure-blood families. She had been adopted into the Vogel Family, and was brought there by Adam Vogel from the outside, Adam had also told them that Jasna's ancestors had all died in wars fought to defend wizarding honor.
This was very interesting indeed.
As one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight families, the Rosiers had been active in maintaining pure-blood traditions and had considerable influence in Wizarding World for centuries. A descendant of this family was also a notable figure, who had also been involved in that war that swept across Europe half a century ago.
When Bryan had been a student at Hogwarts, he had paid special attention to that turbulent period in wizarding history. His focus had been driven partly by academic curiosity, but more importantly by his desire to better understand Dumbledore.
Having studied that era with the intensity of someone seeking to understand not just events but their deeper meaning, Bryan could think of only one person:
Vinda Rosier.
She had been far more than just a supporter of Gellert Grindelwald's revolution. Vinda Rosier had been one of the leading figures among those fanatical followers who had embraced Grindelwald's vision of wizard supremacy. Her status among the revolutionary forces had been extremely high, second only to Grindelwald himself in terms of influence and respect among the faithful.
According to the historical records, Vinda Rosier had died fighting against the international wizarding coalition forces that had been assembled under the leadership of Vicência Santos and the International Confederation of Wizards. Her death had occurred even before the century's most decisive battle—before the legendary duel between Grindelwald and Dumbledore that had ended the war.
And contemplating Vinda Rosier's life, Bryan unconsciously pressed his lips together.
"I will give them a chance, Hayne," Bryan finally said in a low voice after a long while. "But whether they can seize it depends on themselves."
The silence by the riverbank lasted for a very long time. Both Kingsley and Louise looked at Bryan in bewilderment, not understanding what he was thinking.
If Bryan was unwilling to spare those two, he could have simply refused Hayne directly. After all, the plea of a humble house-elf carried so little weight that Bryan could completely ignore it.
As for Anton Vogel's potential influence in the matter—honestly, a former Minister for Magic and chairman of ICW who had retired more than half a century ago wouldn't carry much political weight when facing someone of Bryan Watson's current status and reputation, especially since this particular request hadn't even come from Anton Vogel himself but from his family's house-elf.
Only after several more minutes of heavy silence did Bryan continue speaking in a low voice: "If they recognize their mistakes and confess their crimes honestly and completely, then before sending them to Azkaban, I will allow them to meet with Mr. Vogel for a final farewell."
"Azkaban!" Hayne exclaimed, his voice cracking with surprise and horror.
Hayne had been about to express his gratitude for Bryan's unexpected mercy, his relief at securing even this small concession was obvious in his slightly brightened expression. But upon hearing the name of the prison that was notorious throughout the European wizarding world, Hayne was completely horrified.
"Mr.—Mr. Watson—" Hayne stammered, his voice trembling with confusion and growing dread, "shouldn't it be Nurmengard?"
"Heh—" Bryan chuckled, a sharp light flashing in his eyes as he spoke words that left Hayne, Kingsley, and Louise all confused.
"Of course it's Azkaban," Bryan continued, "I believe they will reflect more deeply on their mistakes there, and... serve a greater purpose."
'A greater purpose? What greater purpose could criminals destined to serve life sentences in Azkaban possibly serve?'
Hayne, despite his confusion and growing concern, recognized that he had achieved the absolute limit of what was possible under the circumstances.
The fact that Master Adam and Miss Jasna would not face immediate execution at Bryan Watson's hands represented a small concession of some sorts, even if their ultimate destination filled him with dread. Hayne knew it could do no more.
Hayne bowed deeply to Bryan in a gesture of gratitude, then slowly straightened his body. Its thin, dry fingers reached into its clean apron, as if searching for something. After a moment, under everyone's gaze, Hayne pulled out a pocket watch from beneath the apron.
This gold pocket watch was vintage in style but exquisitely crafted. It had a slender gold chain, and the thick gold cover was set with a circle of pure diamonds, with different colored gems adorning the cover to form the Vogel family crest.
Hayne opened the cover. The watch face was made of rare mithril, with no hands—only several golden stars running along the dial. Bryan knew this retro design style had been quite popular in the Wizarding world for a time.
Undoubtedly, this gold pocket watch represented a fortune in terms of both monetary value and historical significance, but even Louise, despite her unfamiliarity with the wizarding world's customs and treasures could tell that Hayne wasn't displaying the watch with any intention of offering it as a bribe for Bryan's cooperation.
The key was the photograph embedded in the back of the watch cover—a photo of Anton Vogel and Jasna Rosier together.
"Oh—" Louise exclaimed, her voice filled with genuine surprise.
Forgetting her displeasure with the house-elf, Louise leaned in closer in curiosity.
The photograph showed two faces positioned close together in the intimate manner of family members sharing a moment of genuine happiness. Both persons were smiling with the kind of joy that couldn't be faked or forced.
But that wasn't the most remarkable aspect of what Louise was observing. The truly significant detail was the apparent age discrepancy that contradicted everything Hayne had told them about the family's history.
While the house-elf had clearly said that Adam and Jasna hadn't returned to the family home for twenty years—not since Jasna was a small child of about seven. Given this long absence, one would have expected any photograph dating from their last visit to show them as they had appeared two decades earlier. Anton Vogel, in particular, should have appeared as a much younger middle-aged man.
Instead, the Anton Vogel in the photograph appeared exactly old as they had seen him just moments earlier. Even more surprisingly, Jasna was not the young girl one might have expected from a photograph taken twenty years ago, but rather a mature woman in her twenties.
"This pocket watch is goblin-made, crafted by the finest artisans among the goblin nation and given to Master by influential goblins seeking to curry favor with him during his tenure as Minister for Magic," Hayne explained, his voice carrying the pride of someone describing a treasured family heirloom.
Hayne continued his explanation, his thin fingers stroking the edge of the gold watch with obvious affection and respect. "The old master was very fond of this watch and always carried it with him constantly throughout his years in office and long after his retirement. The watch possesses some sophisticated magic—when a photograph is embedded in it, it can show the current appearance of the wizards in the photo."
"How amazing!" Louise exclaimed, her voice filled with genuine wonder and professional envy.
Then she noticed that the people in the photo weren't static—they actually moved. Undoubtedly, this too was a form of magic. Louise looked at the photo with envy; for a reporter, such magic was extremely tempting.
"After Master Adam brought Miss Jasna home during that brief, happy period, they posed together for this photograph as a memento of their time as a family," Hayne continued, his voice carrying the weight of memory and long-held affection.
"The old master gave the watch to Miss Jasna, but when Miss Jasna left, she left the watch in her room. Hayne was worried that seeing the watch and being reminded of happier times would only cause the old master additional pain and heartbreak, so I secretly hid it away where he wouldn't accidentally encounter it during his daily routine."
Hayne held up the watch and slowly raised it in front of Bryan, his eyes turning hopeful.
"Mr. Watson, if you meet Miss Jasna, could you return this watch to her?"
The request carried layers of meaning that went far beyond the simple transfer of this watch.
"To preserve their lives, you truly spare no effort, Hayne,"
Bryan took the watch, rubbed the edge with his fingertip a few times. After examining the watch briefly, noting its craftsmanship and the magical properties that Hayne had described, Bryan slipped the watch into his pocket.
"As the Vogel family's house-elf, you should be able to find them both at any time, shouldn't you?" Bryan asked, his question carrying expectation and the implicit demand for cooperation.
Hayne nodded slowly. "Yes, Mr. Watson. Hayne knows where they are, but Master warned Hayne before not to visit them, so Hayne can only tell you, their locations."
With obvious reluctance but complete honesty, Hayne gave them two addresses. Jasna was in Berlin, where they had been before, while Adam Vogel was currently in a Muggle town in Austria.
"Who should we find first?" Louise asked, "From my perspective, it seems that Adam is the one who orchestrated all this. We should probably find him first."
"No—" Bryan shook his head. "We'll go see this Miss Rosier first. Let's go. It's time for all this to end."
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